1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for extending phone book records of a subscriber identification module (SIM) card and a method for extending the same, and more particularly for extending phone book records of a SIM card by using a flash memory within a mobile phone.
2. Description of Related Art
Mobile communication is made possible by using satellites or widely spreading base stations to receive and transmit communication signals. Users may use mobile end systems, such as a mobile phone, to receive or/and transmit signals from/to the base stations so as to communicate with one at a far distance. In addition, by providing wireless communication between the users and the base stations, the users may talk to other people without positional limitations.
A global system for mobile (GSM) is one of the most popular communication systems nowaday. It characterizes a subscriber identification module (SIM) card appending to a mobile phone for logging in the GSM communication network and thus enabling the mobile communication.
Among various functions provided in the mobile phone, a “phone book” function for storing records of a friend, a relative, a costumer, etc. into a flash memory or the SIM card is of utmost demand. By using the “phone book” function, users may record the home address, the e-mail address, plural of phone numbers, etc. into the so called “phone book”, may group and sort the records, and also may set various ring tones and representing photos to individuals.
It should be noted that only the “phone book” within the flash memory of the mobile phone can support abundant records, such as e-mail addresses, home addresses, ring tones, representing photos, etc. Currently, the “phone book” within the SIM card allows only a name and a relative phone number to be recorded due to the limitation of record structure available. Therefore, the only way to extend the old “phone book” records within the SIM card is to reedit a new “phone book” record in the flash memory of the mobile phone so as to replace the old one.
Accordingly, a need of easily extending the present “phone book” records in the SIM card in order to resolve the drawbacks of the dullness and the limitation on such records is rising.